Atomising discharge valves



R. F. E. BOCH ETAL ATOMISING DISCHARGE VALVES Sept. 17, 1963 Filed Aug. 9. 1961 Attorne United States Patent C) 3,104,061 ATOMHSNG DSCHARGE VALVES Robert Francisque Eugene Boch, Sao Panic, Euclydes Antonio Rios, Santo Andre, and Alfred Pierre Lefort, Sao Paulo, Brazil, assignors to Societe des Usines Chimiques RhonePoulenc, Paris, France, a French body corporate Filed Aug. 9, 1961, Ser. No. 130,396 Claims priority, application Brazil Aug. 12, 196i) 4 Claims. (Cl. 239-337) This invention conce-rus atomising discharge valves for containers of pressurised liquids and has for one object the provision of a new or improved valve of this character which is of a simple and inexpensive construction and may be made substantially `entirely of plastic material.

Accordingly the valve of this inventio-neomprises a cap having an aperture and a communicating bore therein, a discharge nozzle in said cap Iand in communication with ysaid bore, a Valve seat located in an axially fixed position within said bore of said cap and deiining with the latter a chamber communicating with said discharge nozzle, such seat having a bore which emerges into said chamber and is adapted, in use of the valve, to be placed in' communication with the liquid in the container, a resilient pad formed separately from the cap and mounted in the latter at the upper pant of said chamber, a lever pivoted -to said cap externally thereof, Iand a bo-ss on said lever which passes through said aperture in said cap and bears lon said pad, said lever being biassed so that said boss normally applies pressure to said pad to `distort: the latter against the valve seat `and close the bore therein, but capable of being pivoted against such hiassing to release said pressure on said pad.

The valve of this invention, having 4a separate resilient pad to form the valve head, makes for an extremely simple manufacture and also improves the operation yof the valve in `that only a slight displacement of the. lever is necessary to unseat the pad from the valve seat and thus release some of the contents of a container to which the valve is applied.

Advantageously, according to another feature of the invention', the lever is formed as an angle member having an upper arm ydisposed along lthe top of the cap: and a side arm disposed along the side of the cap whereby pressure on :the side arm of the lever towards the axis of the cap will cause the resilient pad to be unse-ated from the valve seat. By this means the valve is rendered easily manipulatable by a user :and the entire assembly is given a compact form and attractive appearance.

In order that this invention may be understood more readily the following description is given, by way of example, `of one embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal section through the upper part of an yaerosol producing liquid container incorporating a valve according to the invention; and

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation ron a reduced scale of the upper part of the container and illustrating the operation of the valve.

As seen in FIGURE l, the valve comprises a cap 1 sealed into the top of a container, which is conveniently a conventional cylindrical container las shown but may Patented Sept. 17, 1963 ICC 'be lof any suitable desired shape, such .cap including in its upper portion an aperture. On one side, the capi 1 is provided with a discharge passage liti having a stamped metal atomising :diaphragm 11 provided with a restricted oriiice thus forming a `discharge nozzle. On the other side of the cap and mounted between two supporting lugs is a pin 7 `on which is pivoted an angled lever 5. v The lever 5 is normally urged in a counter-clockwise sense as seen in FIGURE l, by a coil compression spring 6, so that a boss 4 on the lower side of the upper arm of the lever is urged downwardly through the aperture in the upper portion of the cap.

The cap 1 is also provided with a bore into which is tted -a disc-shaped resilient pad 3. This pad is held in place against the underside of the upper portion of the cap 1 by raised shoulders at lthe top of a plug 2 which is tightly fitted into the bore in the cap. At its upper pant the ldiameter of the plug 2 is reduced to form an annular chamber in communica-tion with the passage 10 and from the annular chamber liuid distributor ducts extend radially inwardly to ya raised central valve seat slightly below the level of the said shoulders. Thus fluid can be fed from the valve seat -to thediseharge passage 10 whatever the orientation of the plug 2. The plug 2 has, at its lower end, -a downwardly extending central spigot having a central bore in which is iitted a dip tube 9 and a stamped metal `diaphragm 12 having a central restricted orifice. To provide iiuid communication between the orifice of diaphragm 12 and the centre of the valve seat, the main portion of the plug 2 has a central bore of diameter d1 having a restricted neck portion of diameter d2. Y

The action Iof the spring 6 on the lever 5 is to urge the boss 4 downwardly onto the pad 3 and force the latter into iiuid `tight engagement on the valve seat.

Mounted between the two supporting lugs and just below pin 7 is a removable safety pin 8 which prevents accidental pivoting of the lever 5 when' the valve and container are .not required for use. The side arm of the angled lever 5 is ribbed to facilitate pressing of the leve-r with the iinger. A

In onder to open fthe valve the pin 8 is removed, pressure is exerted on the side arm of the lever 5, thereby compressing the spring 6l Thus the :boss 4 is raised and the resil-fient pad 3 is unseated from the seat at the top of plug Z bly the pressure of the pressurised liquid in the container. The liquid then passes through the radial ducts into the yannular chamber through discharge passage 10 and emerges through the orifice of the atomising diaphragm 11 as ya line spray.

To close the valve, the side arm of the lever is released and the spring 6 urges the lever in a counteraclockwise direction, as seen in FIGURE 1, and the boss 4 passes the pad 3 back into sealing engagement withthe valve seat.

The sizes of the orifices in ydiaphragms 11 land 12 and the valu-es of d1 and d2 are chosen as functions of the physical properties of the liquid used.

We claim: r

1. An atomising discharge valve comprising:

(a) a cap having a bore therein,

(b) a discharge nozzle projecting laterally outwardly from the side of said cap and communicating with the upper end of said bore in thecap,

(c) a wall integral with said cap and forming the top of the latter,

(d) said wall having an axial aperture therein,

(e) a plug tted xedly in the lower end of said bore in the cap so as to be spaced below said top-forming wall of the cap,

(f) said plug having a vertical central bore extending completely therethrough,

(g) a valve seat on said plug at the upper end thereof and having a bore communicating with the bore in said plug,

(h) a resilient valve member of disk-like coniiguration `formed separately from said cap and plug and disposed between said top forming wall of the cap and the said valve seat,

(i) said valve member being of greater dimensions than both the bore in the valve seat and said aperture in the top-forming wall of the cap and engaging said top-forming wall of the cap to close said aperture therein,

(j) a lever pivoted to said cap externally thereof at a position remote from said valve member,

(k) an end on said lever and (l) the lever being biased with said end normally projecting through the aperture in the top-forming wall of the cap and applying pressure to the valve member to press the valve member against the valve seat to close the bore therein, but being capable of being pivoted against such biasing to move said end out of contact with the valve member to release the pressure on the valve member.

2. A container for liquid under pressure, such container having mounted at the top thereof an atomising discharge valve comprising:

(a) a cap having a bore thereon,

(b) a discharge nozzle on said cap and in communication with said bore,

(c) a wall integral with said cap and for-ming the top of the latter,

(d) said top-forming wall of the cap having an aperture therein,

(e) a plug fitted xedly in the lower part of said bore in said cap,

(f) said plug having a through bore which at one end enlarges into a recess,

(g) a tube tted into said recess and extending downwardly into said container,

(lz) a dished valve seat in said plug and a bore in said valve seat communicating with said through bore in said plug,

(i) said seat deiining with said cap a chamber communicating with said discharge nozzle,

(j) a resilient valve member of disk-like coniiguration formed separately from said cap and plug and of dimensions greater than both the bore in the valve seat and the aperture in said top-forming wall of the cap,

(k) said valve member being disposed in said chamber and closing the aperture in said wall,

(I) a lever pivoted to said cap externally thereof at a position remote from said valve member,

(m) an end on said lever and (n) the lever being biassed so that said end normally projects through the aperture in the top-forming wall of the cap applying pressure to the valve member to press the valve member against said dished valve seat to close the bore therein, but being capable of being pivoted against such biasing to move said end out of contact with said valve member to release the pressure on the latter.

3. An atomising discharge valve comprising:

(a) a cap having a vertical bore therein (b) an integral discharge nozzle projecting externally outwards from the side of said `cap and communicating with said bore in the cap,

(c) said nozzle having an apertured diaphragm for discharge therethrough of liquid in the form of a Spray,

(d) a wall integral with the cap and forming the top of the latter,

(e) said top-forming wall of the cap having an axial aperture therein,

(f) a plug iitted -flxedly in the lower end of said bore in said cap,

(g) said plug having a vertical through bore,

(Iz) an apertured diaphragm housed in the lower end of said bore,

(i) a dished valve seat formed on said plug and having a bore communicating with said vertical bore in said plug (j) said valve seat defining with said cap a chamber communicating with said discharge nozzle,

(k) a resilient valve member of disk-like coniiguration formed separately from said plug and cap and having dimensions greater than both the bore in the -valve seat and the aperture in said top-forming wall of the cap,

(l) said valve member being disposed within said chamber and closing said aperture in said wall,

(m) a lug projecting outwardly from the side of said cap opposite to said discharge nozzle,

(n) a lever pivoted to said lug at a position remote from said valve member,

(o) a boss integral with said lever and projecting through said aperture,

(p) said boss, valve member and valve seat being in alignment and (q) the lever being biased so that said boss applies pressure to the valve member to press the valve member against the said dished valve seat to close the bore therein, but being capable of being pivoted against such biasing to move said end out of contact with said valve mem-ber to release the pressure on the latter.

4. A container for liquid under pressure, such container being `of a generally cylindrical form and having its top defined by an atomising discharge valve compuisng:

(a) a cap having a vertical bore therein,

(b) an integral discharge nozzle projecting laterally outwardly from the side of the cap and communieating with said bore in said cap,

(c) said nozzle having an apertured diaphragm for discharge therethrough of liquid in the form of a Spray,

(d) a Wall integral with said cap and forming the top of the latter,

(e) said top forming wall of the cap having an axial aperture therein,

(f) a plug fitted xedly in the lower end of said bore,

(g) said plug having a vertical bore extending completely therethrough,

(lz) a recessed portion at the lower end of said plug communicating with said vertical central bore,

(i) a tube fitting into said recess and extending downwardly into said container,

(j) an apertured diaphragm housed in said recess and retained therein by said tube, i

(k) a dished valve seat formed in said plug and having a bore communicating with said vertical bore in said plug,

(l) said valve seat defining with said cap a chamber communicating with said discharge nozzle,

(m) a resilient valve member of disk-like configuration formed separately from said plug and cap, and having dimensions greater than both the bore in the valve seat and the aperture in said top-forming wall of the cap,

(n) said valve member being disposed within said chamber and closing said aperture in said wall,

(o) a lug projecting outwardly from the side of said cap opposite t0 said discharge nozzle,

(p) a lever pivoted to said lug at a position remote from said valve member,

(q) a boss .integral with said lever and projecting through said aperture,

(r) said boss, valve member and valve seat being in alignment and (s) the lever being biased so that said boss applies pressure to the valve member to press the valve member against the said dished valve seat to close the bore therein, but being capable of being pivoted against such biasing to move said end out of conftaet with said valve member to release the pressure on the latter.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Ehbrecht Nov. l5, Gebauer et al May 14, Tomasek Mar. 24, Galeazzi IMay 20, Seaquist July v1, Koehner Mar. 15, Ashkenaz Aug. 8, 

1. AN ATOMISING DISCHARGE VALVE COMPRISING: (A) A CAP HAVING A BORE THEREIN, (B) A DISCHARGE NOZZLE PROJECTING LATERALLY OUTWARDLY FROM THE SIDE OF SAID CAP AND COMMUNICATING WITH THE UPPER END OF SAID BORE IN THE CAP, (C) A WALL INTEGRAL WITH SAID CAP AND FORMING THE TOP OF THE LATTER, (D) SAID WALL HAVING AN AXIAL APERTURE THEREIN, (E) A PLUG FITTED FIXEDLY IN THE LOWER END OF SAID BORE IN THE CAP SO AS TO BE SPACED BELOW SAID TOP-FORMING WALL OF THE CAP, (F) SAID PLUG HAVING A VERTICAL CENTRAL BORE EXTENDING COMPLETELY THERETHROUGH, (G) A VALVE SEAT ON SAID PLUG AT THE UPPER END THEREOF AND HAVING A BORE COMMUNICATING WITH THE BORE IN SAID PLUG, (H) A RESILIENT VALVE MEMBER OF DISK-LIKE CONFIGURATION FORMED SEPARATELY FROM SAID CAP AND PLUG AND DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID TOP FORMING WALL OF THE CAP AND THE SAID VALVE SEAT, (I) SAID VALVE MEMBER BEING OF GREATER DIMENSIONS THAN BOTH THE BORE IN THE VALVE SEAT AND SAID APERTURE IN THE TOP-FORMING WALL OF THE CAP AND ENGAGING SAID TOP-FORMING WALL OF THE CAP TO CLOSE SAID APERTURE THEREIN, (J) A LEVER PIVOTED TO SAID CAP EXTERNALLY THEREOF AT A POSITION REMOTE FROM SAID VALVE MEMBER, (K) AN END ON SAID LEVER AND (L) THE LEVER BEING BIASED WITH SAID END NORMALLY PROJECTING THROUGH THE APERTURE IN THE TOP-FORMING WALL OF THE CAP AND APPLYING PRESSURE TO THE VALVE MEMBER TO PRESS THE VALVE MEMBER AGAINST THE VALVE SEAT TO CLOSE THE BORE THEREIN, BUT BEING CAPABLE OF BEING PIVOTED AGAINST SUCH BIASING TO MOVE SAID END OUT OF CONTACT WITH THE VALVE MEMBER TO RELEASE THE PRESSURE ON THE VALVE MEMBER. 